


And live inside each scene

by Resamille



Series: VLD Whump Week 2017 [3]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Blood, Gen, Injury, Voltron Whump Week 2017
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-16
Updated: 2017-08-16
Packaged: 2018-12-16 02:10:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11819028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Resamille/pseuds/Resamille
Summary: “Well no,” says Lance over the comms. “Most people don'tintendto get shot.”





	And live inside each scene

**Author's Note:**

> For Voltron Whump Week 2017 Day 3. The prompt is Near-Death or Blood loss. Something like that I don't actually have the tumblr open at the moment and too lazy to check woop.
> 
> Title from Another Day of Sun from La La Land

“Pidge!” Keith cries, and then he's running towards them. His bayard slashes through another drone, slice clean and practiced. Pidge watches it in slow motion, blinking in confusion because... Why is Keith so worried? What happened?

And then they feel the pain, a sharp sting in their side.

Pidge gasps, pressing their hand against their stomach out of instinct, and marveling when they feel wetness at their fingertips. They hear shots being fired, hear Keith shouting, but nothing really registers. Frozen, Pidge blocks out the surrounding battle.

Through the haze of pain, the thought that Pidge focuses on is this: odd, that the wound is bleeding. Most of the Galra's lasers cauterize as they damage, so bleeding out has never really been a potential issue. At least until now, Pidge muses, as they raise their hand to look more closely at the way the lights of the Galra ship glint against the dark stain of blood on their glove. Huh. Odd.

Keith reaches them, eyes dark with intent as he throws his sword behind Pidge. There's the crackle of electricity as a droid fries from the damage. And then he's reaching for them, grip tight on Pidge's shoulders. “Pidge, _Pidge_ ,” Keith hisses between his teeth. His brow furrows into something strained with worry.

“Watch out,” warns a voice over the comms on their helmets. Suddenly Pidge is on the ground after Keith grabbed them and pulled both of them to floor to dodge the incoming arrow.

“Lance!” Keith growls, “Take out that sniper!”

“I'm _trying_ ,” Lance bites back. “They're not exactly making themselves an easy target.”

“Get it _done_ ,” Keith snaps, and starts hauling Pidge to their feet.

Pidge stumbles after him, shell-shocked. They aren't a stranger to pain, but this sensation is so odd. Some sort of Galra weapon, and the wound tingles with little flashes of agony. By the time Keith manages to get them both hidden behind a column, Pidge is sucking in sharp breathes, gritting their teeth.

“Shit, Pidge, _fuck_ ,” Keith is saying, and he lets Pidge sink to the ground. He follows the movement, hands fluttering over their body. “How the fuck did you manage to get shot.”

Pidge knows Keith well enough by now to recognize the anger isn't directed at them. “Didn't... mean to,” Pidge grumbles, and lets their arms drop to the floor to let Keith panic over the wound some more.

“Well no,” says Lance over the comms. “Most people don't _intend_ to get shot.”

“Is that sniper dead yet?” Keith growls.

“No.”

“Then you don't have time to be sarcastic.”

“They're not showing themselves. Gonna need a reason to come out of hiding,” Lance says.

Keith frowns. He looks from Pidge to the place he knows Lance is stationed, hidden up in the machinery and architecture of the Galra ship. His gaze flicks back to Pidge, and then down to the still-bleeding wound. “I—fuck, okay.”

Pidge watches, mind moving slowly, as Keith peers around the column, and then rolls into the open. He makes a show of going to retrieve his bayard, stalling just long enough to be a target. There's the sound of a shot, and then Keith drops to the ground.

“Taken care of,” Lance reports.

“Good,” Keith says, from where he'd preemptively dodged and is now laying on the ground. He picks himself up off the body of a Galra drone and nudges the broken thing with his foot. “Ugh. Lance, get down here, I need help with Pidge.”

“What was that?” Lance singsongs. “Did the great Red Paladin of Voltron call for my help?”

“ _Lance_ ,” Keith snaps, “This is serious. Pidge is _hurt_.”

“On my way.”

Pidge sucks in a deeper breath, trying to steady themselves, and then winces at the pain in their side. Keith returns first, helping to keep Pidge upright and murmuring curses under his breath.

“Still with me?”

“Mmhm,” Pidge hums. “Not dead yet.”

“Don't joke,” Keith says, voice tight. “I have no idea what they hit you with.”

“Wasn't a blaster,” Pidge supplies, and then frowns because their words sound kinda weird even to their ears. Are they slurring? Ugh.

“I know that much,” Keith grumbles.

“You know, you really should get some medical training,” Lance huffs as he jogs over, kneeling next to Keith and nudging him out of the way with his shoulder.

“I'm the impulsive one. I'm supposed to be the one getting hurt,” Keith says.

Lance pins him with a deadpan stare, obviously annoyed. “One of these days that's going to bite you in the ass.” He turns to Pidge. “Can you stand?”

“Prob'ly,” mutters Pidge. They press their hand into the wound, morbid curiosity overpowering pain for a moment, though Pidge regrets it when the ache lingers. “Huh,” they say, picking up their hand. Their fingers are shaking. “Still bleeding.”

“Yeah,” says Lance, leaning close. “Not good. Is this a bullet of some sort?”

“Don't look at me,” Keith huffs.

“I don't like this,” Lance announces. “I don't like leaving that arrow or whatever it is in, because I have no idea what sort of shit Galra tech can do while inside a human body... But taking out is gonna make it bleed.”

“It's bleeding anyway,” Keith says.

“It'll bleed more,” Lance clarifies. “Pidge?”

Pidge shrugs, and then gasps out a little pained noise because _mistake_. “Y-you're the doc here.”

Lance frowns. “I'm not, and that's why I especially don't like this.”

“'S weird,” Pidge decides. “Take it out.”

Lance looks at them skeptically for a moment, and then warns, “It'll hurt.”

“Already hurts,” Pidge tells him.

Lance sighs, dramatic, and looks incredulously at Keith. “Both of you have no sense of moderation. It's either all or nothing.” He turns back to Pidge, and bites his lip. Then, softly, he whispers, “Sorry.”

 

Pidge screams, and it hurts like hell, but they feel better with whatever Galra bullshit out of their system. They feel lighter, too. Lance blinks down at the blood staining his gloves, swallows hard, and then helps Keith pick Pidge up off the ground. They decide to split—Lance taking Pidge back to Blue, and Keith aiming for the control room to do what damage he can to the Galra ship.

 

Pidge only partially pays attention to the path Lance leads them down. It's slow going, and each step makes their body twitch in pain. The hand pressed against the wound is agony. It's an attempt to stop the blood flow, but Pidge isn't sure how much it's helping. Lance's grip on their arm is tight, worried. His lips are pressed into a thin, concerned line.

 

Keith reports the all clear over the comms, announces his impending return. Lance tells him to meet them at the lions. At least, that's what Pidge thinks he says. Everything is a little hazy. Their breaths are sharp over their lips, cold and shallow, lungs tight with pain.

 

The stars swim in Pidge's vision as Lance helps them into Blue. Pidge settles against the wall, grateful to be allowed to rest. It's peaceful, without the jarring sensation of movement. Their fingers feel numb. Lance presses his fingertips against the side of Pidge's throat, checking for a pulse, and then frowns. Pidge doesn't know what that means.

Lance leaves to go pilot his lion. They'll get Green later, probably.

“Hang on, Pidge,” Keith's voice is soft over the comms.

They care, Pidge realizes.

They care.

 

Pidge doesn't remember falling asleep, but they want to remember this dream forever.

They dream of starlight, of long-lost amber eyes. Of laughter and hugs and family.

They never want to wake up, not without the embrace of Matt and their dad replacing the pain of fighting a war.

Pidge doesn't want to wake up.

 


End file.
